Ribe revolt of 868

The Ribe revolt of 868 occurred on 7 February 868 when the inhabitants of the Danish town of Ribe rebelled against the rule of King Horik Gottfredsson, who had imposed exorbitant taxes upon the population. Horik's mercenary Skula Sihtricsson and his men crushed the uprising and extorted the taxes, only to take the money for themselves.

Background
By February 868, it had been months since the town of Ribe delivered the taxes and rents due to Horik Gottfredsson as its lord, as the populace grew unruly. Horik sent Skula Sihtricsson to remind the townspeople of their obligations, promising him a fifth of the collected taxes if he collected the taxes.

Revolt
For several days, Skula collected large payments of penningas from the townspeople. The people were outraged at Skula's demands and decried them as nothing more than extortion, becoming restless. Nevertheless, Skula resolved to continue collecting taxes. A large band of angry townsmen interrupted the tax collection, shouting about the exorbitant taxes and waving torches and weapons. Skula and his men, wielding swords and spears, slaughtered the club-wielding rebels, and Skula's quick action and strong arm successfully put down the revolt, intimidating the locals into submission.

Aftermath
Skula collected 8,271 penningas in taxes from Ribe, and King Horik expected him to bring the money to him. However, Skula instead lavishly spent with the money, hiring a bard to sing about him, hiring more men, purchasing supplies and new equipment, and buying passage across the North Sea to Bebbanburg, England. Skula knew that he would no longer be safe in Denmark if Horik found him, as he had stolen all of his tax money, so he decided to embark on a successful, if short, career of pillaging in Britannia.